Information structure in Makhuwa: EEG evidence for a universal processing account

This study explores the universality of focus-induced upregulation in information processing across languages, using Makhuwa-Enahara, a Bantu language spoken in northern Mozambique, as a unique example. This study contributes to the sparse body of (EEG) research on African languages and showcases the need to diversify language investigations beyond the commonly studied ones. The complex linguistic features of languages like Makhuwa-Enahara offer valuable insights into the underlying principles of human language, enhancing our understanding of language processing, and its underlying neural representations. Our findings point towards a universal pattern where focus marking results in an upregulation of focused information, irrespective of how it is linguistically marked, which is relevant for refining linguistic theories and cognitive models of language processing.